Flying Robots

The advance in robotics has boosted the application of autonomous vehicles to perform tedious and risky tasks or to be cost-effective substitutes for their - man counterparts. Based on their working environment, a rough classi cation of the autonomous vehicles would include unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), - manned ground vehicles (UGVs), autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs), and autonomous surface vehicles (ASVs). UAVs, UGVs, AUVs, and ASVs are called UVs (unmanned vehicles) nowadays. In recent decades, the development of - manned autonomous vehicles have been of great interest, and different kinds of autonomous vehicles have been studied and developed all over the world. In part- ular, UAVs have many applications in emergency situations; humans often cannot come close to a dangerous natural disaster such as an earthquake, a ood, an active volcano, or a nuclear disaster. Since the development of the rst UAVs, research efforts have been focused on military applications. Recently, however, demand has arisen for UAVs such as aero-robotsand ying robotsthat can be used in emergency situations and in industrial applications. Among the wide variety of UAVs that have been developed, small-scale HUAVs (helicopter-based UAVs) have the ability to take off and land vertically as well as the ability to cruise in ight, but their most importantcapability is hovering. Hoveringat a point enables us to make more eff- tive observations of a target. Furthermore, small-scale HUAVs offer the advantages of low cost and easy operation.

This book demonstrates how bio-inspiration can lead to fully autonomous flying robots without relying on external aids. Most existing aerial robots fly in open skies, far from obstacles, and rely on external beacons, mainly GPS, to localise and navigate. However, these robots are not able to fly at low altitude or in confined environments, and yet this poses absolutely no difficulty to insects. Indeed, flying insects display efficient flight control capabilities in complex environments despite their limited weight and relatively tiny brain size. From sensor suite to control strategies, the literature on flying insects is reviewed from an engineering perspective in order to extract useful principles that are then applied to the synthesis of artificial indoor flyers. Artificial evolution is also utilised to search for alternative control systems and behaviors that match the constraints of small flying robots. Specifically, the basic sensory modalities of insects, vision, gyroscopes and airflow sense, are applied to develop navigation controllers for indoor flying robots. These robots are capable of mapping sensor information onto actuator commands in real time to maintain altitude, stabilize the course and avoid obstacles. The most prominent result of this novel approach is a 10-gram microflyer capable of fully autonomous operation in an office-sized room using fly-inspired vision, inertial and airspeed sensors. This book is intended for all those interested in autonomous robotics, in academia and industry.

Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No, it’s a robot! Robotic technology has taken to the skies with the rising use of drones, which are used for entertainment, surveillance, and commercial reasons, among others. This book introduces readers to the history and future of flying robots. Readers will learn about the newest flying robot models and the technology behind them. Exciting text is supplemented by color photographs of many real-life robots to give readers a strong understanding of robots that are made for the sky.

Robots fly overhead to find someone who's lost, spy on enemies, and create maps. In the future, these robots might fill the sky. Kids will learn how robots fly, how operators control them, and more.

The MQ-1 Predator drone served the U.S. military well for over two decades. The flying robotÕs early missions were surveillance and reconnaissance. But in time, the drone became armed with Hellfire missiles for attack missions. This STEM-aligned title shows interested readers robots that donÕt stay grounded.

With their unique maneuverability, drones and flying robots are used for all kinds of work. Drones can save lives in disasters. They fly over and photograph disaster-stricken areas so relief workers can find those who most need help. Drones can also be a farmer's best friend—they help farmers check on crops from the sky, saving them time, money, and a whole lot of work. Discover more fascinating facts about drones and flying robots—from who first invented them to how we'll use them in the future—in this up-close look at cutting-edge technology!

This book addresses the topic of autonomous flying robots physically interacting with the environment under the influence of wind. It aims to make aerial robots aware of the disturbance, interaction, and faults acting on them. This requires reasoning about the external wrench (force and torque) acting on the robot and distinguishing between wind, interactions, and collisions. The book takes a model-based approach and covers a systematic approach to parameter identification for flying robots. The book aims to provide a wind speed estimate independent of the external wrench, including estimating the wind speed using motor power measurements. Aerodynamics modeling is approached in a data-driven fashion, using ground-truth measurements from a 4D wind tunnel. Finally, the book bridges the gap between trajectory tracking and interaction control, to allow physical interaction under wind influence. Theoretical results are accompanied by extensive simulation and experimental results.

This book deals with the study of tilt-rotor omnidirectional aerial robots and their application to aerial physical interaction tasks. Omnidirectional aerial robots possess decoupled translational and rotational dynamics, which are important for stable and sustained aerial interaction. The additional ability to dynamically re-orient thrust vectors opens the door to a wide array of possible morphologies and system capabilities. Through modeling, control, prototype design, and experimental evaluation, this book presents a comprehensive methodology and examples for the development of a novel tilt-rotor aerial manipulator. This work serves as a guide for envisioning and constructing innovative systems that will advance the frontier of aerial manipulation.